KEY POINTS:
Luciano Pavarotti's reign as opera's biggest star did not bequeath the inheritance his family might have imagined. The Italian tenor died about $17 million in the red, his estate has revealed.
The debts emerged after weeks of careful combing through bank accounts and shareholdings held by Pavarotti, who
died last September of pancreatic cancer, aged 71. They were filed in a court in Modena, Italy, last week by notary Giorgio Cariani.
Pavarotti's fortune had previously been estimated at $500 million. Rumours of debts surfaced in October but were played down.
"We have only just started taking the inventory," Mr Cariani said at the time.
"These figures are just a tiny part, so you are only seeing a partial vision of his finances."
But the full picture, laid bare in a 100-page document, is no rosier.
Numerous accounts are listed at seven banks, with one €11 million ($21 million) overdraft at the Siena branch of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank. Another account, at the bank's Monaco branch, contains just US49c.
The document does list property owned by the star, including three villas and an apartment in Italy, as well as an apartment in Monaco, but does not list their value. That could come under scrutiny as his inheritance is carved up between his widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, and his three daughters by his first marriage, Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana.
Publicly, Ms Mantovani has played down speculation over a potential battle.
"There is an atmosphere of fair play and correctness within Luciano Pavarotti's family and among their lawyers over the inheritance of the maestro's estate," said Anna Maria Bernini, a lawyer representing Ms Mantovani and her daughter by Pavarotti, Alice, who was born in 2003.
Under Italian law, 50 per cent of Pavarotti's estate will be split equally between his four daughters, with a further 25 per cent given to his widow.
Pavarotti allocated the final quarter to Ms Mantovani, who worked as his secretary during his first marriage. He left his wife of 35 years, Adua, to live with her in 1996.
With the publication of the estate, Pavarotti's American assets, reportedly including three Manhattan apartments, works of art and bank accounts, could again fall under the spotlight. The assets were placed in a trust for Ms Mantovani by Pavarotti in July and it is not yet clear how they will be included in the division of his wealth envisaged by Italian law.
Their value is not mentioned in the new document.
An Italian magistrate said in October he would look into the trust after a notary present at the signing was quoted as questioning the lucidity of the ailing Pavarotti, who was taken to hospital in mid-August to be treated for a chest infection.
But Luciano Bovicelli, a doctor who witnessed the signing, said the singer was fully aware.
"Luciano was absolutely in control of what he was doing, he was very lucid and present," Dr Bovicelli said.
During a TV interview in October, Ms Mantovani said she was in complete agreement with Pavarotti's three elder daughters over his wealth.
"Luciano always worried about everyone," she said, "and he left a lot for everyone."
Ms Mantovani, who was 34 years younger than Pavarotti, also revealed during the interview that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis six months after the start of their affair, prompting her visits to New York for treatment.
Part of the inventory is 18 operatic costumes fitted for Pavarotti's girth and worn during his career.
- OBSERVER
